Newsletter NJ Laws by Kenneth Vercammen, Esq.: E673 VercammenLaw New

1. Ken Vercammen’s wedding Anniversary

2. FRO denied here where plaintiff not credible

3. Drug dog alert prior to opening case door sufficient here State v. Balbi

4. Prosecutor should not have rejected for PTI based on parking ticket suspension

5 Upcoming Running Races and One mile swims for Charity

1. Ken Vercammen’s wedding Anniversary

Ken Vercammen’s wedding Anniversary

The Groomsmen at wedding July 8, 1989 were:

Front Row: Jim Watt, Cynthia Vercammen, Ken Vercammen, Chris Knigge

Middle row: John Bachenski, Mike Sydor, Mike Brennan

Back row: Jim McGreevey [was NJ Governor], Steve Vercammen

2. FRO denied here where plaintiff not credible B.A.R.S. v. S.R.L.,

Plaintiff appealed the denial of a FRO in her favor and the dismissal of the TRO. The parties had an on-again, off-again dating relationship. At the time of the underlying events, the parties were living in defendant's home. Plaintiff filed a domestic violence complaint alleging predicate acts of assault and harassment. Plaintiff alleged that she had been living in defendant's home for two years, although defendant asserted that plaintiff had only been living in the home for a couple of months. The parties had an altercation in which plaintiff claimed that defendant "lunged" at her and grabbed her arm, causing her to fall backwards and break a cabinet. Plaintiff further testified to a history of verbal and emotional abuse by defendant that culminated in the alleged physical violence.

Plaintiff also made inconsistent statements about a subsequent incident in which defendant had plaintiff's dog removed upon allegations of animal cruelty against plaintiff. Defendant denied touching plaintiff, claiming that plaintiff broke the cabinet door by slamming it in the wrong direction. The trial court dismissed the complaint and TRO, noting that while both parties' testimony suffered from inconsistencies, there were larger inconsistencies in plaintiff's testimony. The trial court found plaintiff's testimony not credible and ruled that she had failed to meet her burden of proof to establish a predicate act of domestic violence. On appeal, the court affirmed, ruling that the dismissal of plaintiff's domestic violence complaint was based on the trial court's credibility determinations that resulted in plaintiff failing to establish a predicate act of domestic violence. Source Daily Briefing - 02-15-23 Appellate Division, Per Curiam.

3. Drug dog alert prior to opening case door sufficient here State v. Balbi

Defendant appealed the order denying his motion to suppress drug evidence after a remand. Court remanded for trial court to make specific factual findings about the movement of a K-9 dog as part of a canine sniff of defendant's car to establish probable cause for a search warrant. Trial judge heard testimony from canine handler and viewed a video of the canine sniff. Officer narrated the dog's movements in the video and confirmed the dog alerted on the front passenger door by biting the door handle. Door opened and officer reached out and closed the door. Officer testified the dog also scratched at the front passenger door pointing "to the source" of the odor.

Officer testified dog never entered the vehicle and that biting, scratching, jumping and/or barking were the dog's alert signals. Trial judge found officer was credible, consistent with the video, dog never entered the vehicle, the sniff was lawful and the brief opening of the car door had no effect on the search and the validity of the warrant. Court rejected defendant's argument that the opening of the car door constituted an unlawful search, noted trial judge found dog alerted prior to any opening of the car door and found there was no evidence dog was trained to open doors during a sniff. Source https://www.law.com/njlawjournal/almID/1678822790NJA290820/

4. Prosecutor should not have rejected for PTI based on parking ticket suspension State v. Ransdell

Defendant appealed the denial of her application to enter the pretrial intervention program. Defendant was driving her vehicle when it was struck by a bus. Her passenger died from her injuries and defendant was charged with operating a motor vehicle that resulted in the death of another while her license was suspended. Her license had been suspended because of unpaid parking tickets. Prosecutor objected to defendant's entry into the pretrial intervention program. Trial judge denied her application because he could not find prosecutor's position "amounted to a patent and gross abuse of discretion." Defendant pled guilty, State recommended a non-custodial sentence and judge sentenced defendant to a three-year probationary term. Court reversed and remanded. Court found prosecutor's denial of PTI was a patent and gross abuse of discretion. Prosecutor found six factors that he believed justified barring defendant from PTI, including the nature of the offense. Court however, noted her license was suspended for unpaid parking tickets and there was no evidence she was intoxicated, under the influence or distracted by a cellphone at the time of the accident. Prosecutor's reliance on three other factors adding nothing that the nature of the offense factor did not take into consideration. Additionally, defendant had no criminal history and two of victim's close family members favored PTI.

source https://www.law.com/njlawjournal/almID/1678481236NJA147621/

5. Upcoming Running Races and One mile swims for Charity often participated by Ken Vercammen 2023

July 8 Spring Lake Ocean Mile Swim Saturday 8:00AM https://www.raceforum.com/slswim

7/12 Woodbridge Pizza 4 miler Wednesday Wakefern Shoprite supports

https://runsignup.com/Race/NJ/Sewaren/DowntownWoodbridge4MilePizzaExtravaganza

July 15, 2023 Long Branch Run>Swim>Run Long Branch Run>Swim>Run Sat Long Branch, NJ 07740 US Directions

https://www.trisignup.com/Race/NJ/LongBranch/LongBranchRunSwimRun

July 15 Annual Bar Crawl Belmar Train Station, 846 10th Ave Hash Five Mile five bar Rumson 10:17 Formerly ten mile, ten bar DMW / Cumby

07/16/23 Manasquan Ocean Mile Swim 8:00AM Sunday Sun Manasquan Ocean Mile Swim AND 1/2 Mile swim Manasquan, New Jersey Open water swim - Open Water Swim

https://www.raceforum.com/squanswim

7/19 RVRR pub crawl

July 23, 2023 East Brunswick 5K Run/Walk Supporting Veterans VFW 9am Sun Wakefern Shoprite

https://runsignup.com/Race/NJ/EastBrunswick/Benefit5KRunWalk

7/29 Summer Freezing cold hash run FCH Neptune Shark River Hills not a race, fun run with beverages

July 30, 2023

JFK Medical Center Miles For Minds 5K 9am Sun Wakefern Shoprite

https://runsignup.com/Race/NJ/Edison/JFKMedicalCenterMilesForMinds5K

8/5/23 Sea Girt 5K – Saturday http://seagirt5k.com

8/6 Long Branch 1 Mile Ocean Swim

https://www.facebook.com/events/687522086124687/?ref=newsfeed

8/12/23 Asbury Park Sheehan Classic 5k – Saturday SAC